Senior Year: How to Stay Focused and Have Fun

The spring semester of senior year is a truly magical time. While your academics are still important, you likely have the relief of knowing where you're going to school this fall. This semester and this summer are a time to solidify friendships, grow, and begin to prepare for the next chapter of your life.

It can be difficult to stay grounded during times of change, but it’s important that you maintain focus. Why?

Colleges can revoke your admission if your academic performance significantly drops during the latter half of your senior year. We have actually seen this happen--it’s not an empty threat!

The study habits you form in your senior year of high school carry over into your freshman year of college, so don’t give in to senioritis.

Academic excellence is about more than just getting into college. It might sound lame, but it’s true. Learning is a lifelong pursuit, and we hope you enjoy it for its own sake.

Now, it is also important to stay balanced and sane, so be sure to make time for fun! Senior year allows for some opportunities that only come once in a lifetime:

You have this long stretch of time (a rare opportunity) to expand your horizons, take risks, and dream about who you want to become. Don’t be afraid to explore.

Enjoy your new freedom. Adult life is rarely free of worries as much as it is during this time of your life.

Spend time with your family. Do things together that you’ve been putting off. You won’t realize what you’ll miss about being at home until you’re gone, so soak it in. After this, your visits home will be shorter, and your relationship with your family will inevitably change.

Spend time with your high school friends, and get to know your teachers as actual people. Take some time to reflect on your time in high school--the things you enjoyed, what you learned--and on your life so far.

Try this for an exercise: sit down and write a letter to your future self. Be concrete about your dreams, aspirations, goals, and the person you imagine you’ll become. Keep it somewhere safe, and write down a reminder to open it on a specific date a few years from now. When you open up that letter from your younger self, it will serve as a reminder of this happy, hopeful, and free time your life. And if by chance you had started to lose sight of that, it will be a good way to reconnect with your intentions and goals for your life.